Famous 19th Century British Soldiers

Wilfred Owen was an English soldier and poet. One of the most important poets during World War I, Owen wrote about the horrors of gas warfare. His life and career inspired a docudrama titled Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale where he was portrayed by Samuel Barnett. In 1989, the Wilfred Owen Association was established to commemorate his life and poetry.

Siegfried Sassoon was an English writer, poet, and soldier. One of the most popular poets during the First World War, Sassoon's works satirized the patriotic pretensions of those accountable for the war as well as described the horrors of the war. Siegfried Sassoon's works and ideology greatly influenced another leading poet of the First World War, Wilfred Owen.

Richard Francis Burton was a British explorer, soldier, and scholar. He is best remembered for his explorations in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Along with John Hanning Speke, Burton was the first European to witness the Great Lakes of Africa. A prolific writer, Burton wrote several scholarly articles about numerous subjects like sexual practices, falconry, human behavior, travel, and ethnography.

Adrian Carton de Wiart was a British Army officer who served in the Boer War, World War I, and World War II. He suffered several injuries during his service; he was shot in the face, ankle, leg, stomach, head, hip, and ear. He also lost vision in his left eye. He was honored with many awards, including the Victoria Cross.

Henry Tandey was a British soldier who played an important role during the First World War. In 1918, Tandey was honored with the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his efforts during the second Battle of Cambrai. The same year, Henry Tandey was also honored with the prestigious Victoria Cross for exhibiting bravery in the face of death.

John Bowes-Lyon was a British stockbroker and cricketer. He was the son of the Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne and the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. He was also Queen Elizabeth II's uncle. He is also remembered for being a part of the Black Watch during World War I.

Harry Patch was an English soldier who served during the First World War. A supercentenarian, Patch was the last surviving combat soldier to have fought in the trenches during the First World War. At the time of his death, Harry Patch was the world's third oldest man and the oldest man in Europe.

British admiral Arthur Phillip was a pioneering leader of the colonization of Australia. He established the first permanent European colonial settlement in Australia. He had also served as the first governor of New South Wales but was unable to establish peace. He was part of the Seven Years' War, too.

English actor Cedric Hardwicke is mostly remembered for his roles in the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw. Nicknamed Butch and Badger, he was one of the finest character actors of the initial days of talkies. He was also known for his baritone voice and later moved to the US permanently.

Born to an army doctor in India, Brian Horrocks was educated at Sandhurst and later became a British Army officer. He was skilled in modern pentathlon and had also participated in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Post-retirement, he penned a memoir and was featured in several BBC programs.

John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, was 13 when he first joined the navy. The British admiral later became the First Sea Lord. He is remembered for introducing torpedo-boat destroyers and for improving the naval gunnery. He retired over bitter disagreements with the likes of Winston Churchill and their naval expedition plans.

Recipient of the Victoria Cross, Gonville Bromhead was a British army officer, hailed for his role in the defence of Rorke's Drift during 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. He not only played an important part in repulsing the Zulu assault, but also stayed back to defend the area from future attacks until he was sent back to England to receive his award.  

Known for his distinguish services during WWI, Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, is especially hailed for his decisive victory over the Turks at Gaza, leading to the capture of Jerusalem. Later, he also captured Damascus and Aleppo, thus ending Ottoman power in Syria. Later appointed Special High Commissioner of Egypt, he governed the country firmly, until its independence in 1922.

Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, also known as Brookie and Colonel Shrapnel, was a senior British Army officer and a military advisor to Winston Churchill. He had received multiple knighthood honors. An ornithologist, too, he was a skilled bird photographer and had led the Zoological Society of London.

Royal Navy officer David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, had been the Admiral of the Fleet and is remembered for his exploits in World War I. Some of his major heroics were seen in the Battle of Jutland and the Battle of Heligoland Bight. He was also knighted for his achievements.

Also known as Captain B. H., soldier and historian B. H. Liddell Hart is best remembered for his research on military theory and his book Strategy. He was against frontal attack as a war strategy. He had also been part of the Battle of the Somme and was later knighted.

Royal Engineers army officer John Chard was one of the 11 men to receive the Victoria Cross for defeating a Zulu army of 4,000 warriors at the battle of Rorke's Drift, with a British army of 135. His handwritten account of the war was later auctioned off for £175,000.

Blamed for undermining the British Imperial prestige by surrendering to the Japanese Army during the Battle of Singapore, Arthur Percival was actually a distinguished military officer, known for his successful campaigns in interwar period.  Plagued with underequipped garrison from the beginning, he was forced to surrender in order to save the lives of his 100,000 men and became the scapegoat.

Senior British Army officer Frederick Browning is best remembered for developing the airborne forces of his country. A Croix de Guerre winner, he had been educated at Eton and Sandhurst. He was also a promising athlete and an Olympian who was skilled in bobsleigh and had headed the British Olympic Association.

Stewart Menzies led the British secret service, the MI6, for over a decade. Born into an affluent family and educated at Eton, he excelled in academics and had a brief military career. He is remembered for his role in the forging of The Zinoviev Letter and for his multiple high-profile marriages.

A legend during the American Revolutionary War, Ann Bailey was a British-born American woman, who took up arms to become a frontier scout, messenger and spy. She became a heroine when during the seize of Fort Lee, she made a hundred miles single-person ride through host of besiegers and forestland to get powder supply and thus saved the Clendenin's Settlement.